STARTING EARLY: CLOSING THE GAP ON CHILD HEALTH DISPARITIES: The DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities (Center) was formed as collaboration between the Howard University Department of Pediatrics and Child Health and Children's National Medical Center with the participation of Johns Hopkins University and the District of Columbia Department of Health. The Center targets health disparities in one of the priority populations-children. The lack of research on child health disparities is disturbing in light of the increasing numbers of minority children in the U.S. Given the dramatic increases in low-income children of color in the U.S., it is likely that health disparities will increase, rather than decrease, over time. There is a need for researchers, scholars, and policy makers in this area to collaborate, communicate, and share information and ideas as to how to reduce the disparities in this population. The broad, long-term objectives of this proposed project are to reduce health disparities in this population, and ultimately, the adult population. The specific aims of the proposed project are to hold a conference to facilitate dialogue and stimulate the development of new perspectives and research strategies in this area. The Center seeks funding to host a conference and convene an invited group of researchers in (1) defining the "state of the art" in child health disparities research; (2) identifying gaps in research on child health disparities; and (3) identifying future directions of research in the areas of childhood diabetes/obesity, injury/violence, and substance use. The proposed conference will bring together up to 100 clinicians, epidemiologists, public health researchers, sociologists, psychologists, and other researchers in child health disparities. The conference will target child health disparities in the following areas: diabetes/ obesity, injury/violence, and substance abuse; in addition to policy and implementation issues. It will be an interactive conference involving panel speakers, discussants, and breakout sessions. It will be a one-and-a-half day conference held in the Washington, D.C. area. Proceedings of the conference will be published in a peer reviewed research journal. In addition, the proceedings will be made available on the Center's website and on CDs. Women and minorities will be well represented among both presenters and attendees of the conference. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]